Monday, July 25, 2011

I wasn’t sure if I missed a Lincoln Rhyme novel when I got this one, but I’ve enjoyed most of the others, and so I thought The Burning Wire would be a good read while flying across the Atlantic.
It starts out with another killer, an electric worker that rigs a wire near a bus stop, causing an arc explosion that kills one man, and nearly destroys a city bus. Lincoln is called in, along Del Ray, who’s being pushed out of the modern bureau that uses more electronic means of investigation. It’s funny how this incident is classified as “terrorism” early on and there’s constant talk of communicating in “the cloud” as opposed to old fashioned messaging between people.
Rhyme begins investigating as more electrical traps are set. Saks gets a lesson in electricity from the former employee’s company, which appears to be targeted. They are asked to start brownouts and stop selling electricity to other companies at times and they can’t comply, with traps being sprung that electrify a building, an elevator, and more. It’s a scary thought when we think about how much we use electricity.
At the same time, Rhyme is following the tracking of the Watchman in Mexico remotely, with conference calls from Dance interrupting him. He stresses and has an attack, saved only by Thom’s quick reactions.
The book continues in the style of thrilled that we’ve come to expect from Deaver, with a nice twist at the end. I would certainly recommend The Cold Moon first, or at least The Broken Window to get the background on some of the characters, but if you can, read the entire series in order, including the Katherine Dance novel.